Gerard Butler talks about his December surfing accident and says it was a "close call." Photo: SM / Splash News

Gerard Butler reveals that his surfing accident on Dec. 18 was a “close call” and that reports of the severity were “not exaggerated.”

Butler appeared on “The Graham Norton Show” today and talked about filming the movie “Of Men and Mavericks,” a biopic about surfer Jay Moriarity that required Butler to surf at one of the most challenging big wave surfing spots in the world.

While filming on location in Northern California, Butler was pulled underwater and dragged across a reef by oversized waves. The actor was pulled from the water and taken to Stanford Medical Center for treatment, ESPN.com reported.

“[The waves] just took me in, and I couldn’t get up. It was pretty hairy,” said Butler. “It was maybe of of the few times that reports were not exaggerated. It was a pretty close call.”

What Butler experienced is referred to in surfer parlance as a “two-wave hold-down,” where a surfer is held down by one wave so long that they are washed over by a second. But even though his life was in danger — professional surfer Sion Milosky drowned at the same spot nine months earlier — Butler was anxious to get back in the water and surf more.

“I was going to go back that day,” Butler said. “I was actually in the ambulance and wanted to go back, which was a little crazy. But it’s pretty addictive.”

While the accident was scary, Butler did see one silver lining. It helped him understand Moriarity, who he plays in the movie, much better.

“In the movie, [there’s] a scene about a two-wave hold-down,'” he said. “I actually thought they will get me later and resuscitate me. They finally grabbed me just as another huge wave was coming in –- it was just like a movie! In fact, everything I talked about happening in the movie happened to me.”